Words in the Dust Read Online Free

the clothes and ran into the house through the back door. Zeynab put down the embroidery she was doing on her wedding dress, which she and I always worked on for whenever she would get married. Habib tottered into the room, running as fast as his short stubby legs could carry him. I swept him up. “Ah! Got you, bacha!” He giggled and kicked his feet until I gently put him down.
    Baba and Najib burst into the main room of the house.
    “What is it, Baba-jan?” Zeynab asked.
    “Everyone! I have good news. Najibullah and I are going to make a lot of money! Hajji Abdullah has just won the bid on another contract right here in An Daral, and he wantsNajibullah and me — No. Wait.” He looked at Najib. “He wants Frouton Welding Company of An Daral to do all the metalwork. The Americans ordered a school built for Afghan children, and Hajji Abdullah needs us to supervise the project while he is away in Farah.”
    “Baba!” Zeynab jumped up from the floor. He rushed to her, wrapping his big arm around her. “Baba, I’m all stinky from Torran!” She giggled.
    It looked like Baba had his hands full with Zeynab, so I stayed back, but he laughed and held his other arm out to me. “Come here, my beautiful girl.” I went to him and smiled, leaning my head against him when he pulled us closer. He kissed both of us on our heads in turn. Despite my mouth, he always made sure that he showed how much he loved all of us. I loved him even more for that. “Here, girls.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out shiny new hair clips, two for each of us. I slipped mine in my pocket, but Zeynab put hers in right away.
    “Tashakor, Baba-jan.” Zeynab leaned forward and kissed our father’s cheek. I wished I could have kissed him, but my lips weren’t made for it.
    Najib took a few steps back to the corner. “Good for you, Najib,” I said to him as Baba let Zeynab and me go. Najib only shrugged with a little smile. Habib ran straight to Baba and threw his arms around Baba’s leg.
    “Where —” Malehkah started.
    “But that’s not all!” Baba’s voice roared like a deep cannon. He held his hands up, spread wide as if his news were so big he could hardly support it all. “With the money from theschool project here in An Daral, Najibullah and I will be able to buy a car.” His eyes were alive with an excitement I had not seen in him since before Madar-jan died.
    “Not a new car,” Najib explained.
    “No.” Baba shrugged. “Not a new car from the factory. But a good steady one.” He punched his fist forward at the word steady . “And we’ll need it too, to get back and forth from Farah.”
    “Farah?” Malehkah was sitting, cleaning a chicken on a board on the floor. “Where is —”
    “This is the best part! Our good friend Hajji Abdullah was the one in charge of building the base for the American soldiers in Farah. He did a fine job too. I’ve seen his photographs. But those rich Americans, they say the buildings are too small! They need more housing for the soldiers to sleep in. They need a new building for their television. Hajji says it’s as big as a movie screen!”
    “A movie screen,” said Zeynab. “I’ve never seen a movie screen.”
    Malehkah frowned at her and shook her head.
    “I have,” Baba replied. “Once when I was a young boy. Back home in Kabul. But that was a different time.” He looked down to the floor, then out the front window into the courtyard. “A different Afghanistan. Before the Russians and the wars and then the Taliban.”
    I wished Zeynab hadn’t said anything. Somehow it had made Baba-jan sad. The only noise was the squishing of the chicken as Malehkah prepared it. Habib wandered over toward Malehkah, reaching for some of the chicken parts. I picked him up and bounced him on my hip.
    “Hajji Abdullah says the Americans make him hire local men to work on projects,” said Najib. “But his welder in Farah is no good. All his welds are coming apart.”
    “That’s